Slave or Master of your Time? I’m seeing a common theme with my executive clients. It goes something like this… “I am tied up all day long in back-to-back meetings, such that the only time I have to do the work that comes out of those meetings is from 10pm onward, or as a 4am start to my next day.” Or, like this… “I’m always running late. Each meeting goes over, and I end up feeling harried and apologetic for keeping people waiting. I’m always running to catch up!”

What I notice in these conversations is the hopelessness and resignation with which these stories are told to me. And, if it felt like an easy fix, these high-level, experienced executives would have taken care of it already. That said, I do think there are a few incremental shifts that can make a world of difference in how you feel about who’s in charge of your calendar. Here are some approaches that have worked well for others. Read them over to see if any or all might serve you as you work to become master of your destiny, or, at least, of your calendar.

Suggestion #1:
Block time for work during your workday
Rather than creating an endless list of “to dos” with no time allocated to actually get them “ta done!” − take those action items and schedule time for their completion. If things change, reschedule that work project to another day/time. If your response to this suggestion is that there isn’t any open time in which to schedule work, read on for ideas on how to change that situation.

Suggestion #2:
Schedule 50 or 75-minute meetings
For meetings that you convene, build in time to transition to the next event. Then, stick to only the amount of content that can be covered in that timeframe. If you’re a participant in a meeting, let the leader know upfront that you’ll need to excuse yourself a few minutes early to get to your next appointment on time. When I coach leaders to improve their communication effectiveness, it is common to find that one of the issues is the failure to take the 2-5 minutes before a meeting to think through their desired outcomes and strategic questions. By building in the buffer, you can arrive at each meeting ready to be present and highly effective, and you’ll avoid being chronically late. You’ll also have a chance to address fundamentals like grabbing a glass of water, or going to the bathroom.

Suggestion #3:
Align with your Executive Assistant
The clients that are most successful at mastering their calendars invest the necessary time with their Executive Assistants to regularly review strategic priorities and stakeholders with them. They have brief and efficient 1:1s on a weekly basis to look at the short and mid-term and discuss calendar implications. Their EAs know what to hold sacred on the calendar, which projects and people take precedent over the rest, and to ensure their executives have time to think, breathe and eat every day.

Suggestion #4:
Say “No” more often
One of my clients was recently promoted to VP. As I worked with her to establish herself in her new role, I came to understand that she experienced large amounts of stress related to her calendar. As we talked, it became evident that she was spending 80% of her time in meetings, and only 40% of that time was valuable. Upon further discussion, we came upon the fact that she and 1 or 2 other colleagues in the same group were attending these same less-than-fruitful live and virtual meetings. By implementing a practice in which only one representative from the group attends, and by creating a simple template to reflect the key ideas and decisions made from each meeting that gets circulated to those who need it, my client has saved herself and her colleagues significant time that can now be used to drive the strategic agenda forward. In addition, she has become comfortable with declining meetings and conversations that don’t align with her focus areas in a way that continues to reflect collaboration and creates space on her calendar to do what really needs to get done.

Suggestion #5:
Manage Your Energy and Fuel
In many ways, the workday of a high-level executive at a busy firm can be compared to the physical demands of an elite athlete. I’m not the only one who thinks so. Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr wrote a book called “The Power of Full Engagement” in which they compare the two, and provide recommendations for leaders on how to maintain consistent energy levels throughout the day. They talk of work as a series of sprints versus a marathon, of the need to re-fuel the body with healthy calories every 3 hours and to take short breaks of attention every 90 minutes by looking out the window, going for a brief walk, or listening to a relaxing piece of music.

The reality for most of us is that we’ll always have too much to do and too many demands on our time. No one can fix the problem for us. We need to shift our approach, and design our workdays to best reflect our strategic priorities. Those priorities need to include time with family, time alone and time to work on what will make the biggest contribution in service to others. Choose to become the master of your calendar and start saying no more often to those people and activities that don’t align with where you want to go. Small shifts in how you manage your time can make a world of difference in the long run.  ¶ 2:55 PM 0 Comments

  This blog has moved
This blog is now located at http://karenelmhirst.blogspot.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://karenelmhirst.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.
  ¶ 6:06 AM 0 Comments